Thematic Platforms

AC Immune Shares Insights from Key Opinion Leader Meeting on Tau as a Therapeutic and Diagnostic Target in Alzheimer's and other Neurodegenerative Diseases

SBA Member, 03.12.2017

Lausanne, Switzerland, December 1, 2017 - AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU), a Swiss-based, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with a broad pipeline focused on neurodegenerative diseases, shared the top level insights from today's Key Opinion Leader (KOL) luncheon meeting on the importance of Tau as a target in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. The meeting featured presentations by KOLs Khalid Iqbal, PhD (New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities) and Michael Rafii, MD, PhD (UC San Diego and USC).

Dr. Khalid Igbal highlighted the critical importance of Tau as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases and how inhibition and prevention of the Tau pathology can potentially rescue the pathology of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment.

Dr. Iqbal commented: "Neurodegeneration leads to Tau pathology and Tau pathology leads to neurodegeneration. Where there is no Tau pathology, there is no Alzheimer's disease. Tau-based therapeutic approaches have significant potential to treat a range of neurodegenerative diseases."

Dr. Michael Rafii discussed Tau mediated pathology and the importance of Tau diagnostics in people with Down syndrome, a population with a genetic predisposition to develop Alzheimer's related neuropathological changes including Abeta plaques and Tau tangles.

Dr. Rafii remarked: "Biomarkers of Alzheimer's, including Tau-PET, can be readily studied in adults with Down syndrome as in other preclinical AD populations. By understanding the link between Alzheimer's and Down syndrome, we may not only be able to help the Down syndrome community but the broader population as well. People with Down syndrome are an important population to study as we enhance our understanding of early intervention and prevention of Alzheimer's disease in general."

AC Immune's management provided an overview of the Company's strategy to invest and build value in each of the three pillars of its business -- Alzheimer's disease, other significant neurodegenerative diseases and neuro-orphan indications, and diagnostics.

Prof. Andrea Pfeifer, CEO of AC Immune, said: "We are delighted to share the valuable insights of these world-leading experts with our investors and stakeholders. These types of exchanges are vital so we can all work more effectively together to achieve the common goal of an approved disease-modifying therapeutic and earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease - one of society's biggest challenges of the century."

"AC Immune has a deep pipeline of diagnostics and therapeutics with the clear goal to become the leader in precision medicine in Alzheimer's disease. The goal of precision medicine is to deliver optimally targeted and timed interventions tailored to an individual's molecular drivers of disease."

ACI-35, an anti-Tau vaccine in Phase 1b and developed in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals under a 2014 licensing agreement

RO7105705, an anti-Tau antibody in Phase 2 and developed in collaboration with Genentech under a 2012 licensing agreement

Morphomer Tau, a small molecule in pre-clinical development and developed in-house

PI-2620, a Tau-PET imaging agent developed in collaboration with Piramal Imaging under a 2014 licensing agreement

A replay of the event is available on the Investor Page of AC Immune's website.

About AC Immune

AC Immune is a clinical stage Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company focused on neurodegenerative diseases with four product candidates in clinical trials. The Company designs, discovers and develops therapeutic and diagnostic products intended to prevent and modify diseases caused by misfolding proteins. AC Immune's two proprietary technology platforms create antibodies, small molecules and vaccines designed to address a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative indications, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Company's pipeline features nine therapeutic and three diagnostic product candidates. The most advanced of these is crenezumab, an anti-Abeta antibody in Phase 3 clinical studies for AD that is being conducted by the collaboration partner Genentech. Other collaborations include Biogen, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, Piramal Imaging and Essex Bio-Technology.

Forward looking statements

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are statements other than historical fact and may include statements that address future operating, financial or business performance or AC Immune's strategies or expectations. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "projects," "potential," "outlook" or "continue," and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include those described under the captions "Item 3. Key Information-Risk Factors" and "Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" in AC Immune's Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and AC Immune does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable law. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.